Here are the results of a new Marist College poll asking which terms are “most annoying in conversation” (via the Associated Press):

So, you know, it is what it is, but Americans are totally annoyed by the use of “whatever” in conversations.

The popular slacker term of indifference was found “most annoying in conversation” by 47 percent of Americans surveyed in a Marist College poll released Wednesday.

“Whatever” easily beat out “you know,” which especially grated a quarter of respondents. The other annoying contenders were “anyway” (at 7 percent), “it is what it is” (11 percent) and “at the end of the day” (2 percent).

“Whatever” — pronounced “WHAT’-ehv-errr” when exasperated — is an expression with staying power. Immortalized in song by Nirvana (“oh well, whatever, nevermind”) in 1991, popularized by the Valley girls in “Clueless” later that decade, it is still commonly used, often by younger people.

It can be an all-purpose argument-ender or a signal of apathy. And it can really be annoying. The poll found “whatever” to be consistently disliked by Americans regardless of their race, gender, age, income or where they live.

You wanna know what annoys the hardworking staff at Campaign Outsider? Phrases like “which especially grated a quarter of respondents.”

The expression is “grated on.” And no, I don’t care that the American Heritage Dictionary lists “grate” as a “v. tr. 3) to  irritate or annoy persistently.”

I say it’s grate on. Then again at the end of the day, you know, it is what it is.